The Soul Stealer
by Ghostwriter
Summary: HISB The Rangers learn that some legends are real.
1. Legend

THE SOUL STEALER

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Slightly tweaked version "Final Face-Off". Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only own subplots and characters you don't recognize. I use some lines from the mess up for this ep because I liked them.

Tommy, Billy, Trini, Zack, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha walked into the Angel Grove History Museum.

"According to this brochure, the exhibit's right up ahead," Rocky said as Katherine walked up.

"Hey, I got us these pamphlets. I think they'll really help us in our research," she told them.

"All right," Tommy approved.

"Hey, where are Kim, Jason, Bulk, and Skull? Didn't they have this assignment too?" Adam questioned.

"Yeah, but they came earlier this week with since Jason, Bulk, and Skull were assigned to guard the exhibit today and now Kim's got extra time at the juice bar," Tommy replied as they headed for the exhibit. Bulk, Skull, Jason, and Tyler looked at the table.

"Man, this is one nasty dude," Jason commented, as he glanced at the thing's picture. It was a sinister-looking creature with beady red eyes and a translucent black body. _I wouldn't put it past Rita and Zedd to try to summon this thing_, he thought to himself.

"Just remember Scott, the Kahmala legend is just that: a legend," Tyler stated.

"Hey, this is Angel Grove. I wouldn't be surprised if this thing got turned into a monster," Skull responded and Jason nodded in agreement.

"Here it is guys, the Kahmala Soul Stealer exhibit," Tommy said as they all approached the exhibit.

"I'm glad we came together. I don't mind admitting that this thing kind of gives me the creeps," Katherine confessed glancing at the foreboding looking masks as a woman came up.

"Hello. I'm Azina. The cultural liaison for the nation of Kahmala," she announced. "Welcome to our exhibit of ancient Kahmalan culture." Then, "Have any of you ever read the legend of the Soul Stealer?" Everyone looked to Billy, Trini, and Adam.

"Well, according to your ancient scriptures, the people of Kahmala were terrorized once a year on the day of the fourth full moon by the Soul Stealer," Billy began.

"Yeah, it would come down from the sky and attack the citizens of your country by stealing their souls, leaving them forever in limbo, or as some cultures call it, the Bardo World," Adam added.

"A soul stealer? Oh, please," Tyler scoffed and the others turned to look at him.

"I take it you are not a believer," Azina said.

"Hey, I'm into facts-cold, hard, facts, not a bunch of superstitious mumbo jumbo," Tyler responded.

"Just because you don't agree with another culture's beliefs, doesn't mean you should be so quick to dismiss them," Trini told him.

"Hey, show me some evidence, then we'll talk," Tyler stated and the others rolled their eyes.

"Hey, what's in the jar?" Katherine asked.

"Well, as I recall from the reading earlier this week, that's where the Soul Stealer's spirit's kept," Trini answered.

"That is correct. He was captured by a brave team of warriors who used these magical masks for protection," Azina continued. "After defeating him, they put him in this urn so that he would no longer be free to cause terror or destruction and where he will remain for eternity," she told them.

"You gotta wonder how they shrunk him. I mean, what weapons did they use?" Bulk wondered.

"Huh, that's a good question," Jason agreed.

"And can you just see him in there?" Bulk added. "'Help me! Help me! I'm trapped in an urn'" he continued. Jason began laughing.

"The rent must stink," Skull added.

"I'll say," Jason added with a chuckle. Tyler shook his head as the others laughed. What they didn't know was that Rita had seen the whole thing through her Repulsa-scope.

"Yes! It's here! The day of the fourth full moon is here and I'll be able to reawaken and free my old friend the Soul Stealer!" she celebrated. Zedd growled.

"The Soul Stealer? That old transparent wisp? What good is he?" he asked.

"Oh, Zeddy, think! When I use my magic to free him, he'll be able to trap the Rangers' souls in another dimension and they'll be powerless to stop us from taking over the world!" she responded. _And then I'll destroy you and take my place as queen_, she thought smugly.

"Oh, we shall see," he growled. Then, "Goldar!"

"Yes, Your Rottenness?" Goldar asked in a groveling tone.

"Meet me in my chambers. I wish to speak to you," Zedd instructed and then walked off. Goldar looked at Rita, who nodded her approval. Then Goldar did as he was commanded.

"You wanted to see me, Sire?" Goldar asked.

"Yes. Goldar, I have just begun to notice that my life-force is being drained," Zedd said.

"But-but-that would mean-" _Oh, this is bad. I cannot let him find out what Empress is up to_, the griffin thought.

"That there is a traitor in our midst," Zedd finished for his underling. "Goldar, I am placing you in charge of finding out who it is and stop them from draining anymore of my essence by any means necessary," he continued. "Now, don't you blow it!"

"I will not fail you, Master. I will find the traitor or traitors and dispose them," Goldar promised. Zedd waved him away and Goldar hurried out of the Chamber Of Command to report to Rita.


	2. Legend Unleashed

DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only own subplots and characters you don't recognize. I use something from Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, which belongs to Warner Brothers and TNT. Yes, I know Adam's Korean, but this will tie in with an original storyline that I'll be doing after I finish my rewrites.

While this was going on, the rest of the gang was in the youth center doing various activities. Kimberly was on the balance beam with Hilary spotting her while Angela watched them as she worked on a weight machine. Justin and Zane were sparring while Tina, Curtis, and Chris were talking quietly at a table and Richie was taking orders. Kimberly did a front flip, landing in front of the beam.

"Wow. You're looking good," Hilary approved.

"Thanks," Kimberly grinned.

"Hey, aren't the Pan Globals approaching?" Hilary asked.

"Yep," Kimberly answered. "You know, it's funny, when I was younger, there was nothing I wanted more than to go to the Pan Globals and be an Olympian, but now…it just doesn't seem to be all that important to me," she continued. "Weird, huh?"

"Not really," Hilary answered. "I mean, if I had your-" she looked around before continuing in a whisper, "occupation-I don't think I'd see things the same way either." Kimberly smiled and up to the counter.

"Hey, Kim. Passion Pineapple?" Ernie surmised.

"Yep," Kimberly smiled.

"Coming right up," Ernie promised.

"Great. I'll be sitting with Tina, Curtis, and Chris," she told him.

"You got it," he answered. As he went to the back to make the drink, she headed to the table Tina, Curtis, and Chris were at.

"Hey, Kim," they greeted as she sat down.

"Hey," she acknowledged.

"I wonder how the others are doing on that assignment you all had," Curtis commented.

"I'm sure they're doing fine," Kimberly answered.

"I'm just glad **we** didn't have that assignment. That Soul Stealer guy sounds freaky," Tina declared.

"Aw, don't worry, I'd protect you," Chris teased, wrapping his arms around her. Her response was to elbow him. Curtis and Kimberly laughed. Just then, Angela finished her work out and walked up to the juice bar.

"Hey, can I get you anything?" Richie asked.

"A diet coke please," Angela requested.

"You got it," Richie agreed and quickly got the drink. Just then, he noticed that Kimberly's smoothie was ready.

"Be right back," he said and got the drink from Ernie, which he brought to the girl.

"Thanks, Richie," Kimberly said.

"No problem," the boy responded. Angela took a drink of the soda and smiled softly.

"So, you seem happy," Ernie commented, coming to the counter.

"Yeah. Zack took me to the Woody Woodpecker festival last weekend," Angela replied.

"Really?" Ernie asked.

"Yeah, it was just out of the blue," Angela replied. "I was just talking about it in school earlier this week and the next I know, he's taking me to it. Paid for everything-I really felt like a Princess," she continued.

"Sounds like you had a good time," Ernie commented.

"Yeah, I did," Angela nodded. _Wow. I still can't believe I got so lucky with Zack_, she thought to herself. Back on the moon, Rita was perusing the Earth through the Repulsa-scope as she mulled over Goldar's report. _So Zedd's getting suspicious, is he?_ she wondered. "Finster! Finster!" she called, looking away from the telescope.

"Yes, my Queen, what can I do for you?" the dog-like creature asked as he hurried towards her.

"Goldar said that Zedd's getting suspicious of his low energy. Is there a way we can temporarily take away his link to my monsters so this doesn't blow up in my face?" Rita queried. _Zedd's on to us? Oh, dear_, the monster-maker thought to himself.

"Oh, my Queen! I-I don't know if I can without furthering his suspicions," her replied regretfully. "Perhaps you should let Zedd make the monsters for a while," he suggested.

"I guess I'll have to-after I release Soul Stealer. Zedd doesn't think he can do the job, Well, I'll show him!" she stated. With that, she began casting her spell. In the museum, the Rangers had taken down the information needed for their assignment and were now looking at some of the other exhibits. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning filled the room and the building shook.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Tyler questioned in surprise.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Jason murmured. "Guys, we need to get people out of here now," he stated. The lightning and rumbling came again.

""All right, everyone. Let's just form a single line and go out the door in an orderly fashion," Bulk announced in a loud voice.

"Officers, what's going on?" Azina queried as people began doing as Bulk requested.

"The building's under attack. We need to get everyone out of here quickly and safely," Skull replied.

"Of course," Azina nodded and proceeded to help them lead out. Jason looked to Tommy, put his wrists together and opened his hands slightly as if he was holding something and made a row with the gesture. Tommy nodded, understanding the order. The civilians had just barely made it out when there was another crackle of energy. The urn containing the Soul Stealer shook and the Rangers' eyes widened. Adam lunged towards the container and grabbed it, holding his hand over the lid. He couldn't let Rita and Zedd release this creature. It'd be disastrous. There was a zap and he cried out in pain, dropping the urn. The lid popped open. There was heavy black smoke and then the Rangers all watched in horror as a creature with a black translucent body and beady red eyes materialized. Soul Stealer let out booming laughter.


	3. Bardo

DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only own subplots and characters you don't recognize. Reference to "Enter Rito Revolto Parts 1 and 2" and "Dimension Of Regret". I use something from Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, which belongs to Warner Brothers and TNT. Italics is the Bardo world.

"It's morphin' time!" Tommy shouted.

"Drago-Tigerzord!"

"Raptor!"

"Drago!"

"Stega!"

"Brachio!"

"Mastodon!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed Tiger!" At the youth center, Kimberly hurried outside of the youth center after hearing her communicator go off.

"What's up, Zordon?" she asked once she was away from civilians.

"The Soul Stealer has been unleashed from its prison. You must help the others," Zordon told her. _Oh, I had a feeling something like this would happen_, she thought to herself.

"On my way," she promised. "It's morphin' time! Pterodactyl!" Almost instantly, she was inside the museum. At least, she thought it was the museum. It was hard to tell with all the smoke and wind. _Uck! The legend didn't say anything about this freak being able to control the elements!_ she thought. Outside the museum, Jason watched in concern as smoke filled the windows. _I should be in there!_ he thought. Not that he didn't trust Tommy, he trusted him implicitly. But it was his teammates and friends in there. And what about Kat? She hadn't been a Ranger long and wasn't used to fighting a monster that could control the elements.

"Hey, wait a minute. Where are your friends?" Tyler demanded.

"What, they're not here?" Jason asked, playing dumb.

"There's something going on with you, Scott," Tyler told him. _And I'm going to find out what it is_, he vowed to himself.

"Look man, I don't know what you're talking about," Jason lied. There was the sound of something crashing inside and Jason had to fight not to run inside. _Man, I wish I knew what was happening in there,_ the Red Ranger thought to himself. It was just like the time he had been stuck at the Angel Grove Police Department when Rito first attacked. Inside the museum, the Rangers struggled to get their bearings as they were knocked about. _I've had enough of this. time to even up the field a bit_, the Brown Ranger thought to herself. With that, she took out her Bow Staff and started twirling it. The Soul Stealer shrieked in pain as a high-pitched whistling filled the air. Slowly, the smoke began to clear.

"All right, Kat!" the Green and White Ranger approved. The Soul Stealer darted around the room and then slammed into the Brown Ranger. She screamed and then slumped to the ground.

"KA-A-A-A-AT!" the other Rangers screamed. The Silver Ranger jumped up, flipped through the air and brought out his Drago Sword. Soul Stealer just laughed and did the same to the Silver Ranger. _Adam looked around. He looked down to discover that he had demorphed. __Where am I?__ he wondered._

"_Adam?" a voice asked. _

"_Kat, where are you?" he queried. __Aw, man. She must be freaking out__, he thought, looking around. Presently, he saw the blonde-haired girl and ran to her._

"_Adam, where are we?" she asked._

"_I'm not sure, but I think we're in the Bardo world," _

"_Then that means that thing stole our souls," Katherine_ _realized. _

"_You do not belong in this world," a voice declared. __Well, no kidding__, Adam thought as the two turned in the direction of_ _the voice._

_ "Who are you?" Katherine wondered seeing a being that had the appearance of a female with a muscular build and dark, flowing hair._ In the Command Center, the other Rangers were staring at their fallen teammates.

"Alpha, do you know how to help them?" Tommy asked.

"I'm sorry, Tommy. I don't," Alpha apologized.

"There's gotta be **some**thing we can do," Aisha protested.

"But what? If the Kahmalan legend is correct, which I believe it is, they're both in some sort of limbo world," Billy pointed out. _Wow. Billy must be really worried. He didn't even go into techno-speak_, Kimberly thought to herself.

"Well, we can't just leave them there," Trini chimed in.

"Do you think we could link up with them? You know, like how we did when Adam was in the Dimension Of Regret?" Rocky suggested.

"It's worth a shot," Tommy agreed. With that, the Rangers reared back their arms, pointed their arms downward, and then flexed, allowing their powers to flow into each other as they concentrated on their friends. _The woman approached them._

_ "Neither one of you is dead. Why are you in the Bardo?" she demanded._

_ "We were attacked by the Soul_ _Stealer,"_ _Adam replied._

_ "The Soul Stealer is loose?" the woman repeated. Before Kat or Adam could answer, seven bolts of different colored energy_ _materialized. _

_ "What on Earth?" Katherine asked in surprise._

_ "It's the others-they're calling us," Adam realized with a grin._

_ "I will help you return to living world. Good luck to you both. I shall help you if you need it," the woman stated. With that, she grabbed their wrists as the colored lights came to rest on the two_ _Rangers. A bright purple light intermingled with the Ranger colors. _ When Adam and Katherine awoke, they found themselves in the Command Center.

"How did we get here?" Katherine wondered.

"Oh, thank goodness. You guys are okay," Kimberly sighed in relief. The alarm blared and they turned to the viewing globe to see Soul Stealer in downtown Angel Grove.

"Rangers, because Jason hasn't been able to join you, if and when you need the zords, I'll pilot the Tyrannosaurus-Red-Dragon Thunderzord by remote," Alpha told them.

"Right," the Rangers chorused.

"Back to action!" Tommy shouted and they teleported to the scene. While this was going on, Jason had finally managed to make his way to a secluded corner.

"Zordon, could the others use a hand?" he asked.

"If you are able to get away, yes," Zordon replied.

"I'm on it," Jason confirmed. "It's Morphin' time! Tyrannosaurus!" Within seconds, he was with the other Rangers. Soul Stealer charged at them, and they all unsheathed their weapons with barely enough time to block its attacks. Then, the Rangers put their weapons together.

"FIRE!" A beam of light headed for Soul Stealer.

"Oh, no, you don't," Rita growled. "Magic Wand, make my monster grow!" The wand landed next to Soul Stealer, who growled as the magical properties from the object made him grow.


	4. Legend Destroyed

DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only own subplots and characters you don't recognize. Italics in the Bardo.

"We need Thunderzord Power now!"

"Drago-Tigerzord!"

"Raptor Thunderzord Power!"

"Mastodon-Lion Thunderzord Power!"

"Pterodactyl-Firebird Thunderzord Power!"

"Drago Thunderzord Power!"

"Stega Thunderzord Power!"

"Brachio Thunderzord Power!"

"Triceratops-Unicorn Thunderzord Power!"

"Saber-toothed Tiger-Griffin Thunderzord Power!"

"Tyrannosaurus-Red Dragon Thunderzord Power!" As soon as the zords, came the Rangers jumped into the machines and one-by-one initiated their individual attacks. The Soul Stealer staggered back and then threw a bolt of energy at the zords.

"Rangers, bring 'em together!" At once the Rangers initiated the command for the zords to come together.

"You won't defeat me!" the Soul Stealer shouted. The monster then waved its hand, causing smoke and wind to rise up, causing the Thundermegazord to flounder about.

"Can anyone remember how exactly this guy was defeated besides using the masks?" the Green and White Ranger queried.

"I don't think the legend said," the Silver Ranger answered.

"Beautiful," muttered the Pink Ranger. _What, did the other team just defeat it with pure luck?_ she wondered.

"Come on, you guys! We can't give up! We can beat this guy!" the Black Ranger encouraged.

"Hey, wait a minute! The Soul Stealer reacted in pain when Kat used her Bow Staff! Maybe we can call on it and have the zord use it," the Gold Ranger recalled.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi! That's good thinking," Alpha commented from in the Command Center.

"Send it right away, Alpha," Zordon instructed, and Alpha did so. Once the weapon was in the zord's hand, it began twirling it. the Soul Stealer shrieked in pain at the sound, but continued to summon up the smoke and wind. It wasn't about to go back. He was finally free and he liked it. _Using a portal, the woman watched the fight. __Oh, they need help__, she thought._ _Then, she concentrated on the energy she had felt from the two and then sifted through the particles to see where they had been. When she finally found what she was looking for, she smiled. She began chanting in a foreign language. _In the museum, there was a shimmering of light.

"Uh, Bulkie, something weird's going on here," Skull stated, noticing the light.

"Well, I'm not getting in the middle of it," Bulk responded. Tyler watched in shock.

"What on Earth?" he asked. Then, to their surprise, the masks disappeared! "What the heck!" he exclaimed. The Rangers gasped as the masks suddenly materialized on their zords.

"_Good, they'll be protected long enough for them to take of Soul Stealer," the woman approved._ The Soul Stealer's eyes widened.

"How dare you use those masks?" he asked. He began to fire, but the Rangers unsheathed the Thunder Saber. Energy crackled from the sword. Soul Stealer began backing up. However, it was to no avail. The energy bolt hit him and he was destroyed. Within seconds, the masks had reappeared in their previous spots.

"This town gets weirder every year," Skull commented.

"Uh-huh," Bulk nodded. Tyler's eyes narrowed. _Something weird's going on around here and I'm going to find out_, he determined. The Rangers teleported from the zords and Jason demorphed and then teleported back to the museum, making sure not to be seen. A few days later, the Rangers and their friends were sitting at two joined tables in Ernie's outdoor café.

"Man, am I glad we were able to destroy the Soul Stealer," Tommy commented.

"Whoo, I'll say," Aisha agreed. Then, "Kat, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just-wish I knew who that woman that Adam and I saw was," Katherine answered.

"She was probably the keeper of the Bardo world," Adam surmised.

"That must've been so weird being trapped like that," Zane commented.

"Yeah, it was. I'm just glad to be back," Adam answered.

"I'll agree with that," Katherine declared.

"You know, learning about different cultures is cool and everything, but from now on I'd rather just stick to reading about them," Jason said and they all laughed and nodded in agreement.

THE END


End file.
